> Or has the animation gotten really lousy?

They probably changed the animation software. Most likely, budgets have
been cut, and little time is offered for quality checking beyond the
animation software's corrective capabilities. The animation programs
have gotten better, since a lot of new shows are using Flash, as it is
now an industry standard. I don't think Arthur would look good animated
in Flash, though.

PBS Kids' shows have new competition. As analog TV is dying due to
FCC regulations going in effect in February 2009, and the DTV
replacement being a joke (iffy reception; dollar-store-DVD quality at
best, depending on station's encoding hardware settings,) more viewers
are taking the plunge, sacrificing their budget, and getting cable,
satellite, or Fiber Optic TV service. That means a lot more competition,
as there are hundreds more channels to compete against, dozens being
suitable for young viewers' attention. Which could ultimately mean less
support being given to stations, if they don't step up to the newly
elevated par to retain the audience. That is a whole lot of work needed
to get accomplished. It may be too much work for some PBS stations, and
they could fold or, gulp, be bought out by religious organizations. It
almost happened to KOCE - http://www.koce.org/article10_03.htm has the
details. We might lose a couple of good PBS programs over to national
networks because of this DTV mess. Let's hope it doesn't happen to
Arthur, Dragon Tales or my other PBSKids favorites that I don't want to
see commercialized or chopped up.

Theodore Tugboat, Adventures from the Book of Virtues, Elliot Moose,
Marvin the Tap-Dancing Horse, and Lamb Chop's Play Along licenses were
bought by NBC's PAX TV branch children's station, qubo. The episodes
have been edited quite a bit to allow for over 6 minutes of
advertisements and station promos. It's interesting that the first two
shows listed has the least amount of editing done to the episodes.

The best we can do is support our local stations with a few dollars
(have home-made sandwiches instead of pizza one night,) and cross our
fingers, hope for the best.

Sorry this message is late. Lots of email backlogged.